2002 Kia Rio review from North America

In 2002 I bought a Kia Rio from the dealer with approximately 18,000 miles on it. Its history was explained as a repossession for non-payment, and I thought I was obtaining a good deal---a reliable car---for $8000. My need was merely to cover the 20-mile round trip between my home and where I work.

The car is a disaster. Among the recurrent problems is stalling and reluctance to start. This is experienced almost weekly. At about 25,000 miles, while traveling down a busy multi-lane highway, the car stalled abruptly, and would not re-start. I had to have it towed to a dealership. (Kia did cover that cost, but just to get home, and to return to the dealership after the repair I had to walk with my highly distressed wife to a car rental agency from the dealership, and rent a car for about $200.

Despite being "fully covered" by the warranty, I wound up paying about $200 for parts (electrical components) that turned out not to be covered. The problem was explained as a damaged timing belt, which was a little surprising at low mileage, and left me a little unfortable with a significant out-of-pocket cost for non-covered electrical components. Thus, the fiasco wound up costing $400 plus two return trips to the dealer.

The repair took a few days, and as I drove out of the dealership, the "check engine" light came on 100 yards from the dealership. That led to another multi-day "repair" where no clear explanation for the problem ever emerged. (The mechanic, who seemed genuinely embarrassed, personally arranged a loaner this time.) Since that time, the "check engine" light has come on repeatedly, and is on right now. There seems to be no obvious fix. The overdrive light comes on inexplicably too. The car continues to stall and is frequently reluctant to start, often conking out shortly after starting.

An additional "minor" irritation is that it whistles loudly at freeway speeds, and the front end seems prone to go out of alignment too readily.

The folks at the dealership are pleasant enough, but they are clearly in over their heads. they seem to have a prescribed protocol, and simply are unable to solve what are deep-seated fundamental problems with the car.

This is the worst car I've ever owned. (And I Pinto in the 70s)

I do not make much money, and have a job where I need reliable transportation that would not present me with surprise costs. To match those circumstances I was attracted to what seemed like a simple no-frills car with a strong warranty.

The warranty is "leaky." The lost work time, aggravation, dangers, risk of being stranded, mysterious warning lights with no clear outcomes, whistling, and constant problems make the attractive-sounding warranty misleading. This car has 38,000 miles on it and is already falling apart, and has been more trouble than you might expect from a car with four times as many miles.

I'd sell the car immediately, but it has no re-sale, and I owe a good bit on it still.